Chill Winter
by Popmonkey
Summary: My world my rules


Disclaimer  
  
JW and all his chums own any characters you recognize, anything else is mine and mine alone! Set after season 2 but then goes off into lala land! Please R&R (Be kind!)  
  
Winter Chill  
  
The wind whipped around her body, it was freezing out here, most people were tucked up in bed, dreaming of loved ones and fluffy bunnies, but not her, not Buffy. No she had to be out in the cold fighting the bad guys, vamps and demons, "why couldn't they just stay in as well?" she thought. It had been a slow evening, a couple of newbie vamps in the park and that was all, seems there weren't out to play that evening after all. Wandering home through the meandering streets, seem to alleviate some of the cold that had chilled her extremities. Those years had been tough for one so young, fighting for her life every night, killing her one true love, running away, being alone so far from home. Buffy wiped away a tear determined not to cry she was the Slayer after all. After leaving Sunny-Hell she'd drifted towards LA picking up a waiting job and making ends meet, using her middle name, Anne, and living and working in dead end part of town she was safe from discovery. She had lived here for 5 years, dealing with the local vamp groups and occasional demon as they came along, but never to interested in her previous life. Whenever she thought of her Mum and Sister the tears would start and only sleep would stop them. Putting the key into the lock of her ground floor flat, the glorious smell of home cooked pork rose from the door way and help lift her spirits, "Honey I'm Home!" she called into the dark hallway, "Dinners nearly ready" was the response from the kitchen. Buffy removed her woolen jacket and hung it up, left the hallway guided by the amazing smell, the brightness of the kitchen made Buffy squint after the gloom of the hall but the radiant features of her fiancée helped her relax even further. "Any trouble today?" he asked before kissing her tenderly on the lips, "Nothing I couldn't handle, what we having?" she said with smirk "Roast Pork ala Mark" "what does that mean?" came her inquisitive reply, "it means I haven't burnt it for a change". Buffy had met her husband to be whilst patrolling along the railway one evening, he was a down and out who was the source of much amusement to a group of vamps who were getting drunk feeding of him. Buffy had dispatched of the 3 vamps and had helped the poor man to a hospital, whilst riding in the back of the ambulance she saw his eyes for the first time, deep and brown she wanted to drown in them like the first time she looked into Angels eyes. She had put herself down as his guardian for the hospital records and watched over him all night, it was strange, in 4 years she'd never stopped to consider the people she was saving on such a personal level, and he was the first. When he had awakened from a blurry sleep Mark was amazed to see the girl who had haunted his dream from the last night curled up next to his bed. It was a strange first meeting he felt, this young girl from his dream now sleeping next to him. She stirred and yawned and with sleepy eyes look up at him, "Who are you? And where am I?" he asked "Well I'm Anne and your in hospital, you were attacked last night a I found you and brought you here". Words failed to come from his mouth she wasn't a dream from last night, then that meant the rest of his nightmare could be true, He looked up at her with horror in his eyes "There were creatures there and they.they.were biting me!?" Buffy could see the realization begin to go off around his brain and remembered when she first learnt vampires were real, she decided that honesty was probably gonna be of some help, his horror turned to wonderment as more of his dream returned "you saved me". "Let me explain" Buffy started "yes they were vampires and they were biting you, I think they were getting high off you alcohol soaked blood, which is so gross, and I came along and stopped them" "but your just a girl?" "Not just a girl, THE girl, it's a kinda destiny thing, but you don't need to worry about that now, just get more rest that what the docs say" "I'm Mark by the way" he said extending his hand, Buffy looked at it a bit unsure "nice to meet you Mark, now get some rest". Buffy visited every day after work for the rest of that week until he was fit enough to leave, she couldn't remember why but she offered him the sofa bed in her bed sit, she then set about explaining to him what she really was and where she'd come from. "And I ended up here." She said matter of factly, but he could tell that the story she'd retold had cut her deeply, "and what about you Mark, how'd you end up on a railway line out here?" After a shower and a shave he didn't scrub up to bad, but it was still the eyes that had drawn her to him, "Well my story no where near as exciting as yours, but if you really want to hear it?" "Yes I really do!" Mark took a deep breath and relaxed back on the sofa "just over a year ago I was working in the city for one of the dot COM companies, everything was going great, I had a great job, luxury flat and a girl by my side. As you know those companies soon started to fold as the money ran out and investment dried up, but I fought hard and kept my position at a reduced salary, but the stress was starting to get to me, and drink was my only outlet. Sometimes I would be so drunk at work I would sit there for hours till I remembered where I was. I was blinded by success that I was losing everything, my girl ran of with my best mate and my work was going down the pan. Eventually they had to get rid of me, so I left work, packed away my stuff, went to bar lost myself in a bottle of JD and been there ever since. In fact this is the first time I've been sober in just over 12 months, and man do I need a drink after what you've just told me". Buffy couldn't help laugh at his little joke, but now understood what she saw in those eyes, it was a sadness that was a deep as hers, she had found a kindred spirit, she slowly bent over and kissed him. 


End file.
